Gwennaford's Journal

[thyroid]

Gwen , you gave me a link to the journal section but I tried four times and I can,t seem to make it work

I clicked on the link and followed the instructions and clicked on post and the body didn't send. Please advise?

Marie aka Thyroid

[Gwennaford]

Hi Marie - Good to have a name!  I just created a new journal page for you called "Marie aka Thyroid's Journal" to make sure it worked.  I'll delete that one when I see you have started your own.  I think you're making it too hard. 

This is how I did it:

Go to the "Let's Do Lunch Community" main page.  Scroll all the way down to the bottom, past the recipes. 
You'll see the "Food Journals" heading & right below that, "Click Here for Member Food Journals".  Click on it and a menu of all our journals will open. 
Then all you have to do is click on the "new topic" tab at the top right corner of this page & a blank window will open, ready for you to type the name you want to call your journal page into the subject line.  Type your message & post as usual. 
Next time you want to post on your journal, you come to the same place, click on your title, click on the "reply" tab to write & post another message.

I don't like to go through all those steps to access my journal every time, so I just bookmarked mine while I was in there.  Look for the "bookmark" tab at the top right corner when you have your journal page open.  Then when you want to access it you click on "my bookmarks" in the dark blue banner at the top of the screen under your screen name, just below the top search window.

Is all this clear as mud???  I'll check with you tomorrow to see how you did.

[Sweet_Pea]

Gwen,

I don't think you carry on too much when posting, I always enjoy them.

I'm doing ok eating beans and corn.  It is just the popcorn that doesn't like me.  It is hard  not to eat it because I fix it every evening for dh, for his lunches.  But I always regret it if I give in to temptation.

You weren't hungry today and I starved all day, it seemed.  I ate good at every meal but would get hungry again in a couple of hours.  This isn't normal, just an off day. 

I don't have any pictures to post until someone takes some for me.  Then I will need help getting them on this website. 

Have a great day tomorrow.

Hugs, Carrole

[lifegoeson24n7]

Gwen,

A bean cooker?  what is that?  Is it like a rice steamer?  I just use my trusty 6 qt pot with one broken handle.  I know, I am feeling dumb right now.  But gosh how sweet of Neil, that is a very thoughtful and lovely Valentine's gift.

Have a wonderful day today.  I will try to post on WOW messages, but not feeling very WOW right now.  Hopefully, my mood will lift a bit more as the day progresses.

-Jill

[Gwennaford]

Nah - you're not dumb.  I'm just not writing what I mean.  It's a PRESSURE cooker so I can finally cook my beans.  I've been having a devil of a time getting beans to cook since I've been in Florida.  They crystalize & never get really soft. 

I thought it was the water, so I tried soaking & cooking them in distilled water.  That was better, but they still never got a good, creamy consistency  - always stayed grainy & watery tasting.  It maybe is just me.  Nobody I have talked to has ever heard of anything like this.  I even wrote to Arthelene Rippy, a local Christian TV celebrity who has a cooking segment on her talk show, Homekeepers.  Since she lives in the same general vicinity as I do, and I know she cooks for her family, I thought she might have a suggestion, but no luck.  She said she just throws them in a post with all the seasonings & let's 'em fly.

I know not to salt them or add any acid until they get soft.  I had heard that fresh greens would stay hard & tough if you added cold water or stock while they were cooking, so I made sure I always boiled any water I needed to add to my bean pot.  That was better, but I'm getting really TIRED these days & Neil's very TIRED too -- of carrying home cases of canned beans for me.!  LOL  Now I know why I got out of the habit of cooking beans after moving to Florida. 

I never had this problem in Oklahoma.  I could throw ANYTHING in the pot with the uncooked beans & they always got soft.  I remembered Mama using her pressure cooker & complaining they cooked so fast they didn't have time to develop the thick soup she liked.  So I started making plans to buy a pressure cooker.  I've been looking at ads since before Christmas, but didn't want to spend the money on myself.

So I guess a couple days ago, Neil snitched my pile of ad clippings & BB&B coupons & went shopping.


(cue choir of angels singing)...(cue heavenly light shining down) AAAHHHHHH


Success at last ! ! !  The pressure cooker was the answer.  Niki said NO NO, but I don't want to wait two hours to eat crunchy beans.  Now, I'm eating beautiful, whole, intact beans with a creamy soft consistency in 15 minutes.  YAY  I like al dente lentils & wild rice, but my beans gotta be SOFT! ! !

[Gwennaford]

Food Journal - Wed. Feb. 11

Breakfast 7:30 am

• Canteloupe, Grapes, Strawberries, Watermelon -- Neil did REALLY good at the market.  I think he made friends w/ the produce mgr. to get the best stuff. (as I'm sitting here looking at a line of grapefruits marching around the perimeter of the pool.  I think lawn man likes me, too! He picks them & leaves them for me.)
• Skim Milk Latte

Another Breakfast 10 am -- I really AM eating until full - I'm just getting empty real fast today

• Garbanzos & half an Orange
• Another Latte

Third Breakfast - Noon.  Trying to get lunch made, but is taking forever & I am STARVING today.  I thought the beans at 10 am would take care of it, but obviously I was SO wrong.

• Hot & Sweet Banana Treat - First time I've made it.  That sneaky Little Mary - this is LDL Bananas Foster, isn't it ? ? ?  YUM
• Lots of Ice Water. 

Sometimes when I get this hungry, it's really n

I tried 3 times to post the rest of the day, but I keep hitting one wrong key that erases every new thing I've typed plus a little more.  Stopping while I've still got anything on the screen.  Lunch was Fish Pie - good & filling.  Dinner was bean soup, mashed pintos & jalenpenos.  Had popcorn & grapes later  Finally got filled up!

[Gwennaford]

I moved this over here 'cause it's really too far off topic for the hummus & green olive dip recipe thread!

My son is still trying to adjust to the new mom.  The other day I was crying about something dumb and he was trying to be understanding but I finally just told him.....Michael, everything is okay....its just my new way of dealing with things.  In the past I was pretty good at hiding my emotions cause I would just stuff a donut into my mouth for a quick fix.  Now I have to just let myself feel sad and then I feel better.  It would appear that I am no longer tempted to medicate myself with food and for that I feel blessed cause I know I am finally in control of my eating and I eat food to nourish my body not to fix my problems.
God Bless
Debbie

Dear Debbie - Our Cheerleader!  Oh how I have missed you!  I've taken to rereading the old posts because I miss the ones who were "regulars" when I started last year.  You were ALL such profound inspiration to me.  I'm learning a LOT that I missed early on, now that I've discovered how to tell which posts are unread.  I look for the little "NEW" bullet next to the topic.  duh.  Has that been there all along?

Anyway, back to the quote.  You know what the Bible says about "a word in due season" - or is it Joyce Meyer?  I hate to cry.  Just hate it.  Mike has been trying to convince me that it's okay, it's natural, it's good for your body not to stuff emotions, etc. etc.  All it does for me is make my head hurt, stop up my sinuses, ruin my glamorous makeup (ha) and interrupt whatever conversation I may be trying to have.  But when Neil & I got into it last month, what is the first thing I did?  You got it.  Ran STRAIGHT to the kitchen, dragged out & ate every bad thing I could get my hands on & didn't stop 'til it was all gone.  Fortunately, I didn't have THAT many bad things on hand - just a lot of occasional foods that I polished off in one sitting.  I don't remember what all I ate - I posted it somewhere.  I do remember that I ate until my gums were sore from all the angry chewing!

How did all THAT happen after a year of not even being remotely tempted to binge?  I didn't even do that when Neil was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer last year in April (he's doing GREAT, btw--well on the way to remission).  The obvious answer is the enemy was trying to reestablish an old familiar stronghold and he did NOT succeed.  he's such a liar.

I didn't put it together until I just read this quote in your old post.  What I SHOULD have done was run AWAY from the kitchen, take myself off somewhere and have a good old fashioned bawl & squall to get that temper tantrum out of my system without doing physical harm to myself or someone else.

Thank you for the insight and widsom, Sweet Debbie.  I'm glad to see you when you do get back.  It's hilarious when you & Niki go on a rant.  I just love it.  Really seems to clear the air for everyone!

Loves, Gwennaford Grape

[DEBBIEWEBE]

Thank you for the insight and widsom, Sweet Debbie.  I'm glad to see you when you do get back.  It's hilarious when you & Niki go on a rant.  I just love it.  Really seems to clear the air for everyone

Thank you Miss Gwennie.....I have my moments.  Did I really post it in the olive thread? lmao.   Im glad you understand about Niki and I.  She probably jumps on my band wagon with me cause she literally taught me everything I know about how to make LDL work for ME!!!  That and I tell her how RIGHT she is all the time and she loves that!!! lol  I hate to think Niki and I would cause people to feel "tension" on the boards because we are passionate!!!! Roger knows we are just trying to keep him focused and keep this the easy to follow plan that it was designed to be.  You think we are direct......I hate to think what Little Mary might have said to Roger about the Potato thing lol.  Also thanks for bringing up my post from christmas past lol.  Im sure some Newbies are sitting here wondering "who are these people?"  because I seem to come and go.  You can literally see the excitement jumping off my posts when I am on plan.  When Im off Im scarce as can be.  I can honestly say I am 100% no questions asked into this thing from Jan 6th until the end of April.  I am COMMITTED to seeing this little experiment to the end and  stick to something for longer than a couple of weeks.  I actually experienced for the first time yesterday what Roger talks about.  When he says he's not hungry anymore and has to FORCE himself to eat.  I thought he was crazy all this time but yesterday I couldnt have cared any less about food.  I had to FORCE myself to eat something yesterday.  Very weird for me I must say. 

[Gwennaford]

Yup on the olive dip question - just click on your name over the quote box & it will take you right to the recipe!  That's what I miss about not having everyone here who was here last year.  You never knew WHERE or HOW FAR OFF a topic was going to go before coming back around.

I must have missed something about your little experiment.  What is that?  You mean staying 100% on LDL during that time?  I know - it's weird when it kicks in.  I hardly ate at all the week I had that strange fever, which is understandable I guess.  But for the past two days I've hardly eaten at all & never felt any real strong hunger pangs.  Today, however, WATCH OUT & CLEAR THE ROAD TO THE BEAN POT! ! !  I ate 3 time before lunch!

I also feel the frequent, passionate urge to speak my mind, perhaps too often.  I probably unintentionally contributed to the feeling of friction.  But it looks like Roger takes it in stride & doesn't attempt to drive over here & bop all of US in the nose! ! !  Good thing, 'cause my nose is much closer to him than yours or Niki's ! ! ! 

Peace, Beloved Brother in Christ 

LOL -- Loves you lots - Gwen

P.S. -- ... post of Christmas past... HA HA HA

[DEBBIEWEBE]

That said youre right there are a few MIA's of late.  Carolyn, Patsy, Jeanne, Tori, Veronica, Margo, Little Princess, Ben, Joe, who else?............... Lets see Tom, Carla, and NJ popped in during the banana, potato brawl.........the rest of the family is due for a drop in. 

Yes Gwennie I am being very good since I got over being mad at Roger for telling me to get off my A** and do something or realize I must not really hate the weight I am and just keep coming here for moral support of others.  It is a process.  First I agreed with him, then I got mad, then I came full circle and decided to give it one last attempt before I just decided it wasnt worth the effort to me.  ( I know like a dead horse I keep mentioning it on the boards and I really AM HAPPY NOW that Roger said it....I just USE it to keep me MOTIVATED and Im sure thats exactly the reason he said it to me....Im not complaining, its working) Luckily this time my husband is on board for a change.  This is key to me being successful Im sure.  He's so "onboard" that when I try and cave he politely tells me....."no I'm not having any of that" so then Im like....okay fine...I wont have it either.  Cause far be if for him to just waltz in and beat me to the finish aka skinny town after Ive been trying to do this for almost 3 years lol  So far I am down 12 lbs since Jan 6th.  4 1/2 lbs away from reaching my first "mini goal" of 170.  I really want to see if the weight really starts coming off me this time after the 3rd and 4th month so I am completely determined.  Patsy's sister Marcy has been a HUGE inspiration to me.  If she could lose 100 lbs in only 8 months....surely I could lose at least 40 in eight months.  Only time will tell but I finally spent a little time personally working out my issues with food.  Attacking them one by one and now I feel like the slate is clean and ready for me to take charge and get to the finish this time.  So that is my challenge.  I am committed to stick with it till end of April and reevaluate from there.  I might decide to try and maintain the lose at that point or continue onto goal.  Im leaving my options open.

[Gwennaford]

But it looks like Roger takes it in stride & doesn't attempt to drive over here & bop all of US in the nose! ! ! 

Hey, remember those Rock 'em Sock 'em robots that were all the rage for kids to play with in the 70's?  Maybe we should all get a bunch of them and really brawl it out!

Mary

  HA HA - Actually, Mary, we have Boxing on Wii Sports.  It's so funny to see two people, a nunchuk in one hand, a Wii-mote in the other hand, standing side by side facing the TV, both just WHAILING AWAY at thin air ! ! !  LOL  ROFL !!  We can all get together on the LDL cruise and have a big free-for-all, with everyone standing 6 feet away from each other! ! !  HA HA  I'm crying...

[Gwennaford]

I am being very good ...

I just got a picture of you as Rowena in Mr. Holland's Opus singing, "...I know I could...always be good...to one who'll watch over me..."  heh heh heh

[niki]

Success at last ! ! !  The pressure cooker was the answer.  Niki said NO NO, but I don't want to wait two hours to eat crunchy beans.  Now, I'm eating beautiful, whole, intact beans with a creamy soft consistency in 15 minutes.  YAY  I like al dente lentils & wild rice, but my beans gotta be SOFT! ! !

  wow, gwen..........a pressure cooker....margo LOVES hers...they just always made me nervous...AND i never had a bad experience with one, either...........the thing is i don't have a problem with the water....i soak them during the day now...i cook them overnight in my crockpot...when i get up in the morning, i saute the vegetables and/or meat and by lunchtime, everything's ready to eat............

[niki]

Thank you for the insight and widsom, Sweet Debbie.  I'm glad to see you when you do get back.  It's hilarious when you & Niki go on a rant.  I just love it.  Really seems to clear the air for everyone

 I'm glad you understand about Niki and I.  She probably jumps on my band wagon with me cause she literally taught me everything I know about how to make LDL work for ME!!!  That and I tell her how RIGHT she is all the time and she loves that!!! lol  I hate to think Niki and I would cause people to feel "tension" on the boards because we are passionate!!!! Roger knows we are just trying to keep him focused and keep this the easy to follow plan that it was designed to be. 

   gosh....we go on a rant???...TOO BAD we're so far away...just IMAGINE what mischief we could get into if we lived closer.......imagine what we would do to you guys if we all went on that cruise we were supposed to go on together............... 
   meanwhile, i learned at LEAST as much from debbie over the years as she learned from me......if we cruised, i could ALSO have learned how to play a better game of TENNIS....
   you know what?....i think we're both people that say what we think....i, for one, am too old to do anything else........gwen, i said i was dorothy, but SOMETIMES i feel like sofia because i want to say WHATEVER i feel WHEN i feel it and hold NOTHING in....i spent a LIFETIME holding in my feelings so that i MYSELF didn't know what they were..........NOW, it's TIME to tell it how it is...TODAY, we live in a too high stress world that holding ANYTHING in is DANGEROUS....accumulated stress causes illness.....it's a proven fact.............. 
   and over something like bananas and potatoes?...dealing with something like that is a piece of cake...........WHERE did that expression come from?.....
   hey gwen, remember when sofia and rose made bacon and potato sandwiches to sell on the corner until johnny no thumbs put an end to their business dealings?

[Gwennaford]

  wow, gwen..........a pressure cooker....margo LOVES hers...they just always made me nervous...AND i never had a bad experience with one, either...........the thing is i don't have a problem with the water....i soak them during the day now...i cook them overnight in my crockpot...when i get up in the morning, i saute the vegetables and/or meat and by lunchtime, everything's ready to eat............

Niki - I'm confident I tried everything.  I did everything you said.  I did it dozens of times.  I tried all kinds of variations. I tried everything everyone said.  I changed the soaking water several times.  I tried different amounts of time for soaking.  I used filtered water, distilled water, tap water.  I tried the fast soak method of bringing to a boil for two minutes, then soaking for an hour or two, washing, & cooking in fresh water. Like I have said before, we used to cook beans in Okla. at LEAST once & week & never had a single problem, no matter what you put in, or when you put it in.  Didn't matter if you salted first, etc. etc. etc.  I know how to cook beans, but I have not cooked one single good pot of beans since I've been in Florida.  Maybe it's the altitude???  I'm clueless.  No matter, I've got it licked now.

I can tell you this - I did an experiment yesterday.  I cooked two identical batches of garbanzos, one in the pressure cooker, one in the regular bean pot (Dutch oven).  Both stainless, both 5 quart, exact same quantity of beans & water in both pots, all soaked together overnight, changed water & soaked two more hours.  Washed, cooked in cool fresh water, no seasonings except one bay leaf in each pot.  The garbanzos in the pressure cooker were soft throughout in exactly 15 min. after coming up to pressure.  The ones in the Dutch oven I brought to a boil, turned down the heat to a fast simmer & partially covered with the lid tilted.  After two hours, they weren't hard, but still had a crunchy crystalized consistency that I'm starting to get tired of!

[Gwennaford]

Food Journal - Thur. Feb. 12 - Happy Birthday Abe! 

Okay - this is just weird.  I was a bottomless pit yesterday.  I felt like I couldn't get enough to eat.  It was not appetite, at ALL - it was plain ol' bone-jarringly-stomach-so-empty-it-echoes-when-you-hit-it type of painful hunger.  I ate until full - almost painfully so with the fish pie at lunch, but was still that hungry again 3 hours later.  It's a good thing I was home with easy access to safe foods, because I don't know what I would have done otherwise.  In the past I have smugly assumed I would be able to wait it out if I got stuck in a non-acceptable food situation, but I don't think I could have managed that yesterday.  Looking back on it today, I'm praising God I'm not on some legalistic 'diet' that makes you starve in between measuring out microscopic miserly little portions.  I definitely would have been calling Pizza Hut, China Star, Hungry Howies and anyone else I could think of who would deliver!

I'm guessing that because I ate fruit three times before I started on the protein, my metabolism must have been roaring in high gear.  So I was digesting & emptying at high speed (I know the second part is true).  I woke up this morning - ravenous again, so will add some protein to breakfast.  Hopefully I will be able to hold it down to ONE breakfast today.

Breakfast

• Big cereal bowl of fruit: Canteloupe, Banana, Strawberries.  Saving my grapes for later - LOL
• Two cups of bean soup with about an ounce of chicken in each one.  Coffee & water

Lunch 5 pm

• Rustic Fish Pie (it's growing on me), [u]small Lettuce & Tomato topped with 3-Bean Salad Had this at 7:30 for DINNER instead along with a few grapes & popcorn.
• Water

LOL HA HA LOL HA HA LOL  the Fish Pie I reheated for my lunch is still sitting in the microwave and it is now 5 pm.  I never made the salad.  I guess the desperately hungry phase is over!

I've GOT to stop spending so much time on the message boards. 

[lifegoeson24n7]

Gwen,

Glad to know I am not the only one who has those very hungry days.  I do that too, yesterday as a matter of fact.  I am hoping today is better.  It is starting out a bit better.

Pressure cooker sounds terrific.  Not that I need one more thing to try to store in my kitchen, but I am kinda unorganized and to cook beans in 15-20 minutes sounds like a dream come true.  I really hate relying on canned beans so much.  Do you know the price range?

Have a terrific Thursday dear Gwen,

Jill

[niki]

Pressure cooker sounds terrific.... 

  gg(gwennaford grape)let me know if the pressure cooker really works well...........a pressure cooker DOES sound terrific...if i could get over my fear of bugs, maybe i could get over my fear of pressure cookers...........

[niki]

Glad to know I am not the only one who has those very hungry days.  I do that too, yesterday as a matter of fact. 

  isn't EVERYBODY like that?...........i certainly am...some days i'm hungrier than others.....and if i feel hungry at night, i tell myself to wait and it works...i promise myself a big breakfast....just make sure you're eating big meals and not snacking a lot........
  you know, they DO say that fruit by itself revs up your metabolism....i ONLY like to eat fruit for breakfast.....i have a sluggish thyroid, so i don't really see it revving me up, but i also DON'T know how i'd be without fruit for breakfast...if i go off let's do lunch, i still usually stick to fruit for breakfast........WISH there really was something that i could eat that would give me the kind of energy i used to have....so instead, i work part time and try to accomplish as much as i can on any given day.............